Advancing green chemistry performance assessment: the Estée Lauder Companies’ continuing journey towards meaningful transparency

Abstract

Green chemistry can serve as a key framework to guide cosmetic formulation decision making, as evidenced through the development and portfolio-wide implementation of the Estée Lauder Companies’ (ELC) “Green Score” assessment tool. Recent advancements in data quality and availability from regulatory, industry reporting, and wider literature sources have provided the opportunity to improve and refine the underlying scientific robustness of the framework. Consequently, the first significant methodological iteration is described. The environmental impact pillar is greatly strengthened through inclusion of a waste impact metric and refined greenhouse gas and feedstock sourcing metric approaches. The addition of a biodegradability endpoint also builds upon the tool's initial persistence assessment. Exemplified through ingredient selection case studies, the enhanced tool enables provision of more accurate formulation guidance and strengthens the Green Score's utility as a forward-looking product design guide and informed substitution tool. Potential opportunities for leveraging the rapid evolution of the cosmetic and chemical regulatory landscape to facilitate further optimization and refinement of the framework are also discussed. The applicability of the Green Score to catalyze progress in the pursuit of meaningful transparency and empirical data sharing across enterprise supply chain networks is also highlighted.